Jobson, Frederick James, DD1812-1881; e.m. 1834

WM minister, born at Northwich on 6 July 1812. Having served an architectural apprenticeship with Edward Willson of Lincoln, his advocacy of Gothic, especially in his Chapel and School Architecture (1850) was a major influence on Methodist and Nonconformist building styles. He was involved in the building of the new Kingswood School at Bath and Westminster College, London.He was also a persuasive missionary advocate and represented British Methodism at the MEC General Conference of 1856 (reported in his America and American Methodism, 1857) and at the Australian Conference in 1860 (described in Australia... (1862). Succeeding John Mason asBook Steward in 1864, he expanded Methodism's literary horizons and strengthened the Book Room's finances. He improved both the format and the circulation of the WM Magazine and was responsible in 1876 for the new Supplement to the 1780 Hymn Book. He was elected President of the Conference in 1869. He died at Highbury, London on 4 January 1881.